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Preferred term

rites of passage  

Definition

  • Rites of passage are rituals that mark what are conventionally agreed to be critical or landmark stages in the life of an individual, such as birth, puberty, marriage, and death. The Belgian anthropologist and ethnographer Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957) used the term rites of passage to categorize the rites of what he described as “life crises,” the accompanying stages that mark the transition of individuals from one stage of life to another. [Source: Encyclopedia of Global Religion; Rites of Passage]

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https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/rites_of_passage

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